Unnatural Disaster: Puerto Rico One Year after Hurricane Maria

Casa Hispanica 612 West 116th Street New York, NY 10027

Roughly one year after the double punch of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Puerto Rico remains a site of social and ecological catastrophe. A recent Harvard University study puts the death toll at nearly 5,000—only a few of whom were killed upon landfall. The rest died by disease, malnourishment, and lack of services and care—victims of an “unnatural” disaster of infrastructural decay, economic austerity, and political subjugation. In Unnatural Disaster: Puerto Rico One Year after Hurricane Maria, BISR faculty Adriana Garriga-Lopez, Ajay Singh Chaudhary, and Alyssa Battistoni will examine and untangle the interlocking forces that rendered Puerto Rico fatally vulnerable to a major meteorological event. What exactly, in theory and practice, is Puerto Rico’s relation to the United States? What impact has colonization, neoliberalization, and financialization had on Puerto Rico’s social, economic, and political condition? What is the state of the island 11 months after landfall? How do ordinary Puerto Ricans cope, and what can be done?

Unnatural Distaster: Puerto Rico One Year after Hurricane Maria will take place Thursday, September 13th at Columbia University’s Casa Hispanica (612 West 116th Street). The event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP below.